Titanium-based alloys offer a combination of properties up to moderately elevated temperatures including strength, toughness, low density, and corrosion resistance. Consequently, titanium-based alloys have been extensively used in aerospace applications as a weight-saving replacement for iron and nickel alloys in components that operate at low to moderately elevated temperatures.
To broaden the scope of applications where titanium-based alloys can be utilized, efforts have been undertaken to improve the mechanical properties of these alloys. U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,115 to Abkowitz et al., assigned to the assignee of the present application, discloses a microcomposite material in which TiC is incorporated in a titanium-based alloy matrix as a reinforcement or stiffening material by mechanically adding powder TiC to powder having a composition disposed to form a titanium-based alloy matrix. Upon being compacted and sintered at a temperature selected to preclude diffusion of the TiC into the matrix, the composite material exhibits higher hardness, higher modulus, and better wear resistance than the titanium-based alloy matrix material.
During the course of continuing developmental work, the present inventors discovered a reinforcement or stiffening material for titanium-based alloys that yields a microcomposite material having unexpectedly improved properties in comparison to the properties exhibited by the microcomposite material formed in accordance with the above-mentioned patent having TiC incorporated therein as the reinforcement material.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a titanium-based microcomposite material having improved mechanical properties including high tensile strength, wear resistance, high hardness, and high modulus.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a process for cladding a macrocomposite structure using the microcomposite material having improved mechanical properties.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.